Gender Equality Plan
Braingency (SIA BATWATEX) is committed to an equitable, inclusive and non-discriminatory working environment in which every team member has equal opportunity to contribute, grow and lead.
Our Gender Equality Plan is a formal document, approved and signed by the company's founders, setting out our approach across three thematic areas: integration of the gender dimension into research and teaching content, work-life balance and organisational culture, and gender balance in leadership and decision-making. It also covers our commitments on data collection, training and dedicated resources.
- Version
- 1.0
- Adopted
- 12 January 2026
- Review cycle
- Every 2 years
- Status
- In force — approved and signed by the founders
The plan was adopted on 12 January 2026 and is reviewed every two years. Previous versions of the plan are archived and available on this page as it is updated.
Gender Equality Plan 2026–2028
Adopted by the founders of SIA BATWATEX · Adoption date: 12 January 2026 · Version 1.0 · Review cycle: every 2 years
1. Statement of commitment
SIA BATWATEX is committed to fostering an equitable, inclusive and non-discriminatory working environment in which every team member — regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, disability, religion or belief — has equal opportunity to contribute, grow and lead. As a deep-tech / innovation company preparing to engage with EU-funded programmes such as Horizon Europe and the European Innovation Council (EIC), SIA BATWATEX recognises gender equality as both a matter of fairness and a driver of better science, better innovation and better business decisions.
This Gender Equality Plan (GEP) sets out SIA BATWATEX's formal, structured approach to promoting gender equality across recruitment, career development, governance, research and innovation content, and organisational culture. It fulfils the process-related requirements recommended under Horizon Europe / EIC gender equality guidance and is published to be transparent, accountable and applicable throughout the life of the company.
2. Governance and adoption
This GEP is a formal document, approved and signed by SIA BATWATEX's top management, and published on the company's public website. Any future revision will be approved by the same governance level and re-published, with prior versions archived and made available on request.
- Owner: Founder(s) / CEO, with delegated day-to-day responsibility for implementation.
- Approval body: the management team, reviewing progress at least once a year.
- Publication: available on this page, alongside prior versions where applicable.
3. Dedicated resources and expertise
SIA BATWATEX commits human and, where relevant, financial resources to implement this plan:
- A named point of contact responsible for day-to-day implementation, staff queries and data collection.
- An annual budget line covering training, external expert input, and any accessibility or work-life-balance measures identified as needed.
- Access to external gender-equality expertise (consultants, HR advisory services or sector networks such as national innovation-ecosystem diversity initiatives) where in-house expertise is not sufficient.
- Management-level sponsorship: gender equality progress is a standing item at leadership meetings.
4. Data collection and monitoring
SIA BATWATEX collects and reviews sex/gender-disaggregated data on its personnel to track progress and inform decision-making. As the company grows, this includes:
- Headcount and share of women, men and non-binary staff overall and by seniority level (including founding team, management and technical roles).
- Gender balance among new hires, promotions and departures.
- Gender balance in leadership, decision-making bodies and any advisory board.
- Participation in training, mentoring and professional-development opportunities, by gender.
Data is reviewed at least once every two years (annually once headcount allows meaningful reporting) and summarised in an internal monitoring report used to update this plan's targets. Individual-level data is handled confidentially and in line with applicable data-protection law (GDPR).
5. Training and awareness raising
SIA BATWATEX ensures that staff and decision-makers receive awareness-raising and training on gender equality, including unconscious bias:
- All new joiners complete an induction module covering the company's gender equality and anti-harassment commitments.
- Founders, managers and anyone involved in hiring or performance decisions complete training on unconscious bias in recruitment, evaluation and promotion at least once every two years.
- Periodic team sessions or invited external speakers on inclusive leadership and gender equality in deep tech / entrepreneurship.
- Training completion is logged as part of the monitoring process described in Section 4.
6. Thematic areas, measures and targets
SIA BATWATEX addresses the following thematic areas through concrete measures and targets, reviewed at each cycle of this plan.
6.1 Integration of the gender dimension into research and/or teaching content
Where relevant to its technology and product development, SIA BATWATEX considers whether sex and gender factors (e.g. in end-users, data sets, or use cases) are relevant to its research and innovation content, and documents this consideration in project and proposal work, in line with Horizon Europe's requirement to integrate the gender dimension into R&I content by default.
6.2 Work-life balance and organisational culture
SIA BATWATEX promotes a culture that supports employees in balancing professional and personal responsibilities, and treats caregiving leave and flexible arrangements as normal, not exceptional.
6.3 Gender balance in leadership and decision-making
SIA BATWATEX aims for a gender-balanced founding/management team and, as the company scales, for gender-balanced representation in any advisory board, investment pitches and external representation of the company.
7. Objectives, measures and targets
| Objective | Concrete measure(s) | Target / indicator | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gender dimension in R&I | Checklist/consideration of sex & gender relevance in research, product and teaching content | Applied in all relevant proposals and projects | Ongoing |
| Work-life balance | Flexible working policy, clear leave provisions | Policy documented and communicated to all staff | Year 1 |
| Gender balance in leadership | Track gender composition of founding/management team and any advisory board at each review | Baseline established in Year 1; balanced representation as the team scales | Ongoing / annual review |
| Data collection | Maintain sex/gender-disaggregated staff data | Monitoring report produced | Every 2 years (or annually once feasible) |
| Training | Unconscious-bias and gender-equality training for staff and decision-makers | 100% of managers/decision-makers trained | Every 2 years |
8. Reporting, review and continuous improvement
This GEP is a living document. SIA BATWATEX reviews progress against the targets in Section 7 at least once every two years, updates the plan to reflect the company's growth stage, and publishes the current version — together with prior versions — on its website. Any employee may raise suggestions for improving this plan through the contact address published on this page.
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Gender Equality Plan · v1.0
Adopted: 12 January 2026
Version 1.0 is the current and only version. Superseded versions will be archived here.
Questions about this plan can be sent to contact@braingency.eu.